Lake goes after land to widen C.R. 466

But land on County Road 466 won't come cheaply -- as a new acquisition showed.

Commissioners agreed last week to acquire a small but critical chunk of commercial property on C.R. 466 for $1.2 million, a heavy price that nonetheless figures to save the county $200,000 or more in the long run by avoiding a drawn-out legal fight, Public Works Director Jim Stivender said.

The pact also requires the county to pay an extra $81,000 to cover legal fees and other costs already incurred by property owners Daniel and Susan Cangialosi of Leesburg.

The couple bought the site in 1987 for $16,000, Lake County property records show.

The county is responsible for acquiring the property needed to widen C.R. 466 from two lanes to four, Stivender said.

Improving the increasingly congested road is the crucial element of an agreement that Lake County commissioners are expected to approve Tuesday. The deal would cement new financial responsibilities for the county and the retirement community's developers, who held differing views on who should pay for improvements.

Under the terms of the agreement, obtained by the Orlando Sentinel, The Villages' developer will pay to widen C.R. 466 from Rolling Acres Road to U.S. Highway 27-441, a two-lane stretch of highway that carries an estimated 20,000 vehicles a day into a Lake County commercial district.

Stivender estimated The Villages developer will have spent $10 million on the two-mile road in Lake when it is finished.

But the contract absolves The Villages of responsibility for widening the Lake stretch of County Road 466A, which is expected to grow in use as the retirement community's next town square, Brownwood, rises on the outskirts of Wildwood in Sumter County.

County Attorney Sandy Minkoff said Lake has filed a series of eminent-domain lawsuits since the beginning of the year to acquire the property needed for widening C.R. 466. He said lawsuits were filed only after negotiations with property owners failed to find a price agreeable to both sides.